A Des Moines Register investigation

What you need to know to get a permit to carry a weapon

Applications must be filed in person with the sheriff of the county of residence. There are exceptions for applications for nonresident professional permits and applications for professional permits for a state employee who needs to go armed to work, which are filed with the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

The permit is valid for five years.

Applicants must be 21 years old for a nonprofessional permit and 18 for a professional permit.

The cost is $50. Renewals are $25.

A picture ID such as an Iowa driver’s license or an Iowa ID card with an address is required.

When a permit is required - and isn't required

Generally, carrying a dangerous weapon requires a permit, though there are certain exceptions.

A permit is required for:

A person who goes armed with a dangerous weapon concealed on or about the person.

A person who, within the limits of any city, goes armed with a pistol or revolver, or any loaded firearm of any kind, whether concealed or not.

A person who knowingly carries or transports in a vehicle a pistol or revolver.

A permit is not required for:

A person who is armed with a dangerous weapon in his or her own dwelling or place of business, or on land owned or possessed by the person.

A person who for any lawful purpose carries an unloaded pistol, revolver or other dangerous weapon inside a closed and fastened container or securely wrapped package that is too large to be concealed on the person.

A person who is lawfully engaged in target practice on a range designed for that purpose or while actually engaged in lawful hunting.

Source: Iowa Department of Public Safety

State training requirements for a carry permit

Completion of any National Rifle Association handgun safety training course.

Completion of any handgun safety training course available to the general public offered by a law enforcement agency, community college, college, private or public institution or organization, or firearms training school, utilizing instructors certified by the National Rifle Association or certain other firearms training certifying bodies like the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Completion of any handgun safety training course offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of a law enforcement or security enforcement agency approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Completion of small arms training while serving with the armed forces. For people retired from active duty, possession of an honorable discharge or general discharge is required. Active duty personnel must show completion of basic training with a service record of successful completion of small arms training and qualification.

Source: Iowa law, code 724.9

Iowa's permit to carry disqualifiers

Person is less than 18 years of age for a professional permit or less than 21 years of age for a nonprofessional permit.

Is addicted to the use of alcohol. (Generally means that people cannot have alcohol-related offenses such as public intoxication or driving drunk for three years prior to obtaining a permit.)

Probable cause exists to believe, based upon documented specific actions of the person, where at least one of the actions occurred within two years immediately preceding the date of the permit application, that the person is likely to use a weapon unlawfully or in such other manner as would endanger the person’s self or others.

Has, within the previous three years, been convicted of any serious or aggravated misdemeanor defined in chapter 708 of Iowa law not involving the use of a firearm or explosive.

Is prohibited by federal law from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm.

Is subject to the provisions of section 724.26 of Iowa law. These provisions include: (A) felony conviction; (B) a person who is an adjudicated delinquent in federal or state court of charges that, if committed by an adult, would constitute a felony; (C) a person subject to a protective order to restrain them from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or child of an intimate partner; (D) misdemeanor crime of domestic violence conviction.

Sources: Iowa Dept. of Public Safety, Section 724.8 of Iowa law

Federal firearm disqualifiers

Federal law sets the baseline for reasons that make a person ineligible to purchase firearms. These same disqualifiers, along with state eligibility criteria, apply to people who wish to obtain a permit to carry a weapon:

Felony conviction: Generally defined as a conviction of a crime punishable by prison for one or more years.

Fugitive from justice (felony, misdemeanor warrants).

Unlawful user of or addicted to controlled substance: Generally an arrest or drug test that shows illegal use within the past year.

Under indictment or information for a felony (Note: Does not prohibit possession, but instead prohibits purchasing/receiving additional firearms).

Sources: Iowa Dept. of Public Safety, U.S. Department of Justice

What is 'mental defective'?

A person is “adjudicated as a mental defective” if a court, board, commission or other lawful authority has made a determination that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition of disease:

Is a danger to himself or others.

Lacks the mental capacity to manage his own affairs.

Is found insane by a court in a criminal case.

Is found incompetent to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility.

A person is “committed to a mental institution” if that person has been formally committed to a mental institution by a court, board, commission or other lawful authority. This includes commitment:

To a mental institution involuntarily.

For mental defectiveness or mental illness.

For other reasons, such as for drug use.

Note: This does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or by voluntary admission.

Source: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Some states don't honor Iowa permits

There are many reasons why more than 20 states don’t honor Iowa’s weapons permits. One key reason: Iowa’s lack of a database that would allow other states to check the validity of a permit. States that don’t honor Iowa’s permits include: Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Hawaii.